Woman Claiming £16,000 Damages After Bleach Causes Hair To Fall Out

Most of us know what it's like to walk out of the hairdressers with a deep sense of shame and overwhelming sense of regret after opting for a shorter length or a slightly different shade of colour. But, imagine leaving the salon not only dissatisfied with the colour of your hair, but to also find it all snapping off leaving what resembles a Rod Stewart style mullet.

That's exactly what happened to Jessica Bray from Melbourne, who went on to seek £16,000 (AUD $30,000) in damages after a bleach job left her hair so brittle and damaged that it broke off. However, she lost her claim when the case went to a tribunal.

Advert

Jessica says she was forced to buy a $1,000 wig to wear on her 30th birthday as she felt so insecure about the condition in which her hairdresser had left her hair. In her claim she also included the costs of a psychologist appointment she went to due to the humiliation and distress she experienced.

Speaking to news.com.au she said: "I was told to shave my head because of the damage.

"A few visits later they started to do my hair wrong. Initially I thought it was a one off and they fixed it to my satisfaction. Thinking they wouldn't do it twice in a row I returned and they did it again, and dropped dye on my clothes and also under-bleached my hair again meaning I would have to have my hair bleached four times in around six weeks."

Advert

After that, Jessica went on to visit another salon, where they were shocked with how the previous business had treated her.

"They didn't know what had been done so (they told me to) go back to them to get and it fixed then return to them next time I need my roots done," she said.

"I go to the salon and they put a random girl on the right side of my hair so they could do it 'quickly'.

"They then go out back and leave me alone for what seems way too long so I decide to check my own hair.

"I tug on it gently and it falls out in my hand. The owner sees, stops cutting a man's hair and runs out back to my hairdresser. It was just a mess."

Credit: Facebook/Jessica Bray

Jessica's hair later came out in such huge clumps it blocked her shower drain.

She has even stopped applying for jobs as she feels she would be rejected as a result of the condition of her hair.

She added: "Hair does play an important role, it's a very big thing to a woman."

Emma Rosemurgey

Emma Rosemurgey is an NCTJ trained Junior Journalist at PRETTY52. She graduated from the University of Central Lancashire in Preston and started her career in regional newspapers before joining the team in 2017. Contact her on emma.rosemurgey@pretty52.com